Appearance: Pours a hazy honey color with a very nice head that justs sits atop the liquid without fading and drapes plenty of lace around the pint glass

Smell: White grapefruit pith

Taste: Just a little bit of bread to create the backbone and then the flavors turn to the pithy white grapefruit; after the swallow, there is a bit of sweetness that appears but, overall, the malt elements are very dry and fade to the background to allow the citrus to take over

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: Despite the age on this bottle, the hops still retain their potency and, overall, provide for a refreshingly drinkable concoction; perhaps it could be called an IPA lite but I still like it

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

--Guillaume Apollinaire

Bright kumquat with butter rum highlights and a light yeasty haziness. A plush sounding pour produced a thick chunk of eggshell colored froth that is developing soft divots and laying down smeary sheets of lace as it melts.

The nose could be a little hoppier, but then HP is almost six months old at this point. It's still semi-bright and citrusy, with no real negatives. This could be pretty good beer.

Full Sail used a trio of 'old school craft brewing hops' in this Brewmaster Reserve APA. The lineup includes Cascade, Willamette and Mt. Hood. Even though a portion of the starting 55 IBU zestiness has undoubtedly faded, this is still good beer of the (now balanced) sort.

The malt backbone is sufficiently big and tastes majority pale, with a background toasted quality that doesn't impinge too much on hop flavor. Top notes include white grapefruit and orange zest from the Cascade, and an herbal spiciness from the other two that adds another facet. This is still a good drinker if you're sitting on an unopened bottle, but don't leave it unopened much longer.

More hop flavor and bitterness than expected almost allows the next highest score to be granted. The mouthfeel is solid for the style. It's almost as lush and plush as the original pour sounded, and contains sparkly bubbles that strike exactly the right note.

An 'old school' APA is an odd choice for a Brewmaster Reserve release, but Hop Pursuit really is good, drinkable beer. Too bad I didn't crack the crown months ago, because it might have earned straight 4.0s... at the very least.

huge, bright golden amber and incredibly hazy and cloudy with tons of carbonation just ripping toward the surface. Immense white foam just leaps over the top of the glass, reaching a height of near three inches before finally settling down into a firm two fingers of head and rich lacing that lasted the entire session. Aroma is sharp citrus, lemon, orange, nice notes of grasses along with a great little hint of light bready malts providing some nice balance. Crisp, clean, near perfect flavor as the sharp and lightly tart notes of citrus work perfectly and are so well balanced I was amazed. Such a light, and easy drinking ale, I cannot believe how quickly this one snuck up on me. I could see myself drinking this for days all summer long, it was just that good.

This beer appears a clear medium golden hue, with one finger of tight creamy white head, which leaves a thin wall of pocked lace around the glass as it falls away. It smells of biscuit malt, and orange and pine hops. The taste is bitter pine and leaf hops, and a seemingly overwhelmed bready cracker maltiness. The carbonation is moderate, the body on the light side, with an edgy smoothness. It finishes quite dry - the earthy, floral, and forest floor hops dominating.

The waitress waxed eloquent about the hoppy goodness of this particular offering. Can't say she was wrong, but this whole deal sure could have used a fair bit more of supporting malt body to level things out a tad.

Appearance: Hazy orange-golden body beneath a creamy head of white. Head retention and lacing are very good.

Smell: Hoppy, as might be expected, over a delicately sweet and gently biscuity malt base.

Taste: The hops are bright and fresh, riding a wave of malt as it crosses the palate... citrusy with some lime; grassy; and mildly spicy. A solid bitterness balances it. Nicely polished. Well balanced.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and crisp with a median carbonation level.

Overall: Cute name: "Hop Pursuit". Well, I think they've caught up. It's got a lot of hop character to it without going overboard, leaving it interesting but still refreshing. Well done. A great summer beer. Well worth trying.

Acquired via trade from Wasatch so a big “Thank You” goes out to him. Poured from a 22oz bottle into a mug glass.

A: The beer is a light golden brown color, with a thin off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma faint but contains caramelized malts, some hops and a little bit of citrus.

T: The taste starts out with a hops bitterness which is mild and not over-powering but still the more dominant flavor in the beer. There’s a faint citrus and caramel citrus and a hearty but not too heavy malt character to create a good balance. The after-taste is slightly bitter.

Pours a clear rosey copper, with 2 big foamy fingers of off-white head. This retains with a smooth 1/2 finger, which stays VERY rich and foamy when swirled, leaving a thick cascade of spotty lacing back. Very nice look here. The aroma is floral and herbal smelling, with some extra damp dankness to it. Some lighter fruity sweetness is coming out, as does some underlying malt activity that posssesses an light smokey texture to it, leaving sone tang in the back of the nose.

The bulk of the hop activity in the taste is bitter grapefruit, citrus rind, and some tropical fruit character that brings most of the balancing sweetness here, as those pale malts sit kind of flat and grainy across the back of the palate. Big grapefruit finish on this, with lots of green bitter citrus, earthy rind, and a touch of lingering spice all hanging around. The mouthfeel is medimm bodied, with a creamy sharpness to the carbonation and some slickness that runs through the middle of the body, helping keep this flowing in the mouth relatively well. No alcohol detected here at all.

While this is certainly a servicable hoppy fix, there just wasn't a whole lot to get overly excited about here, with the malt profile in particular coming off as fairly boring. This is maybe a decent one to pair up with your lunch or dinner but otherwise, I'd look elsewhere if your looking to get wowed by flavor.

The beer pours a hazy dark golden color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a nice pale, light crystal, and biscuit malt scent along with a mild hop nose and a bit of yeast esters. The taste is decent as well. It has a smooth, malty flavor that boasts of pale and biscuit malts. It has a light bready character as well as a moderate hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium/full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a good beer, but definitely not a hop lovers brew.

Medium bodied with a blast of dry earthy hops. Resinous with a good amount of bitterness that doesn't overpower. Floral with hnts of pine countered by sweet fruit notes, especially grapefruit and orange peel. Decent malt backbone balances things out with hints of caramel, toffee, biscuit and slight grainy graham cracker. Dry finish. Full bodied, well balanced, flavorful and easy to drink.

Had a bottle from the brewery and split it with friends. I'd agree with the label of calling this an Extra Pale Ale, especially since Summit's EPA comes to mind while drinking this. It's a bright, clear gold with a white head and smells deeply of spicy citrus hops. That flavor holds over from that aroma and it matched by a bread crust and biscuit malt backbone. This is a crisp and fun to drink pale ale. The hops are a little bit of throwback with Cascade-like character and it also comes off a bit like SNPA. Definitely worth checking out for any pale ale fan.

A shimmer of lighter colored orange shines in the glass. Bubbles race to the top. Head retention is there to stay, clinging to the glass with a creamy lace. The nose is fine. Malts have a very bready smell. There's a snap of hop flowers as well. Not quite the "extra" I was expecting.

Kicked up in taste, that's for sure...well, at least compared to their year-round pale ale. A burst of orange hits at first. Green hop leaves all around, kisses of grapefruit, touch of ethanol-like alcohol, very light in the malt department, but shows hints of toffee. Could stand to be better balanced, but that's just me. Biscuity malts a little hop bitterness in the aftertaste.

A: The extra pale ale is coppery, still amber and possibly even darker than many pale ales. A finger of off-white head doesn't lace.

S: The ale has a grassy nose, pine and citrus, with a biscuit aroma to balance the ale out. Seems like a nice, approachable ale.

T: Extra smooth. The biscuity malts, pale and light, are immediately evident. Their chewiness supports a strong hoppiness that never gets too powerful. The hops, for having a citrusy countenance, aren't very fruity or lively, and the hops tend to shy away late in each sip. At $5 bucks a bomber, though, it is nearly impossible to beat.

M: The mouthfeel is grainy, heavier on those grains as it warms, with a subtle hop finish. Approachable, drinkable even. A decent pale ale, extra or otherwise.

A: Deep burnt orange with a dense clarity. A one finger high frothy head sits atop with moderately good retention and intentions that was mostly lasting. The lacing was clean on the go.

S: Toasty sweet with fresh wet pine. Fresh oregano scents come through as well. The strength was dominant on the open, being detected at arms reach, but quickly settles down to humble offering. Get your wiff early on this one to appreciate it or it may be gone.

T: The flavor had a nice base of specialty malts giving this a dry toasty appeal along with a spicy bite of pine and citrus coming in a strong second. Assertive by style and off the tongue comes a wet pine and toasted grain finish along with a dry flowery hop exit that was moderately strong to the liking. Flashes of grapefruit come and go. When it warms up a bit a more pronounced caramel/toffee sweetness comes from the grains.

M: malty, medium base, frothy in the mouth on longer holds. Spicy on the tongue with a dry flowery fade.

O: Overall a assertively hopped extra pale ale that was crisp on the take with a deep malt base to match. Makes for a good casual drink, especially in the summer time.

Poured from 22oz bottle into a pint glass. This is the 2010 Brewmaster Reserve; I think there are two entries for this beer.

Appearance: rich, slightly tawny orange color. Head poured about a finger, but has quickly dissipated to a thin ivory film. Not too bad.

Smell: biscuity malt aroma with just a touch of floral hops. Not terribly strong in either malt or hop aroma; not exactly what I was expecting from the name. As it warms, some more complex caramel-like aromas come out, which help a bit.

Taste: much richer malt flavor; sweeter, more caramelly, more biscuity. Hops are floral and citrusy here, but seem to be most used in bittering. This isn't half bad but, to me, it lacks balance.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a little bit of a syrupy consistency. Well-integrated carbonation facilitates a nice creaminess; I think this is my favorite aspect of this beer.

Drinkability: it's not bad, but there are better pale ales out there. I might have this again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it.

Great orange appearance, below average head and cling to the lacing. Aroma didn't reach out to me that much.

A lot of tangerine taste and mouthfeel. Very balanced, no one dimensional hop sledgehammer. A satisfactory degree of grapefruit and cascade hops here. Ample malt to get the orangeness.

$4 a bottle is awesome, amps up an already very drinkable beer. For some reason, Full Sail's normal releases have been lacking the last few years, I mean, I loved their IPA, Amber, Pale back in college, but now, they are so tame in the hop and bitterness department. This one was just right.